Once a year we stay in an historic building, somewhere in the UK, as clients of The Landmark Trust. We’ve stayed in former pigsties and libraries, towers, wooden cabins, castles and gatehouses. Top of my wish list is Naulakha, Kipling’s former home in Vermont:

In 1892, Rudyard Kipling and his new American bride bought 12 acres on a Vermont hillside while on their around-the-world honeymoon. By year’s end they had begun construction of their dream home which overlooked the Connecticut River Valley.

Christened Naulakha, a Hindi word meaning “jewel beyond price,” this home was designed by Kipling to resemble a ship with his study in the prow. Here Kipling wrote the Jungle Books and Captains Courageous and began Kim and the Just So Stories. In the meadow Kipling introduced skiing to Vermont on skis that were a gift from Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes.